Ending a two-
day official visit to Germany, President Boris Yeltsin on 9
June thanked German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for backing
reforms in Russia, saying such support is essential in
maintaining investor confidence in Russia. During a joint
press conference at the end of the visit, Kohl said
"Germany will support the reform process with great
commitment." Asked whether direct financial aid was
discussed during his talks with the chancellor, Yeltsin
replied, "not directly." Kohl and Yeltsin had met for talks
over dinner the previous evening and discussed Russia's
financial crisis "in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere," German
government spokesman Otto Hauser said. Earlier, Yeltsin
economic adviser Aleksandr Livshits had said that Yeltsin
is seeking nothing more than political support. AW

...SAYS RUSSIA CAN SUPPORT RUBLE

On 8 June, Yeltsin
gave assurances that Russia has sufficient reserves to
support the ruble, Reuters reported. "The Western press is
already playing up this question, that there is already a
crash going on in Russia..., There is not and there will not
be," Yeltsin told reporters before informal talks with Kohl.
The deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank, Sergei
Aleksashenko, said a week ago that Russia's gold and
foreign-currency reserves amounted to $14.6 billion. AW

GERMANY, RUSSIA SIGN PACTS ON NUCLEAR TRADE

Also during Yeltsin's visit to Bonn, German Foreign Minister
Klaus Kinkel and Russian Atomic Energy Minister Yevgenii
Adamov signed two agreements on trade in nuclear
materials on 8 June, Reuters reported. One agreement
allows Russia to ship weapons-grade, highly enriched
uranium to a research reactor currently under construction
in southern Germany. The second limits German firms'
liability in the event of a nuclear accident at Russian plants
they serve. AW

HEAD OF STATE STATISTICS COMMITTEE ARRESTED

The director of the State Statistics Committee, Yurii
Yurkov, was arrested on 9 June, along with an unspecified
number of senior workers in charge of data processing,
ITAR-TASS quoted government spokesman Aleksei Volin
as saying. They were charged with "systematic distortion
of statistical data on big companies, which allowed [those
companies] to evade taxes," Volin said. Yurkov and his
alleged accomplices are accused of manipulating economic
data to hide the real output of companies and reduce their
tax liability. They are also alleged to have sold classified
information about rival companies' performances. Yurkov
was appointed director of the State Statistics Committee
in 1993. AW

COMMUNISTS SUBMIT SIGNATURES TO LAUNCH
IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURES

The Communist Party
submitted to the State Duma Council on 9 June its request
to launch impeachment procedures against Yeltsin. The
impeachment request, which accuses Yeltsin of multiple
violations of the constitution since the break up of the
Soviet Union, was signed by 215 Duma deputies. Communist
deputy Viktor Ilyukhin told reporters that at a 11 June
meeting of the State Duma council, a commission will be
set up to consider the charges before the Duma votes on
them. But Ilyukhin said it will be "very difficult" to muster
the necessary 300 votes in the Duma to back the
impeachment bill. AW

BEREZOVSKII SEES 'BLOODY' FIGHT FOR RUSSIAN
PRESIDENCY

Controversial Russian tycoon and CIS
Executive Secretary Boris Berezovskii predicted on 8 June
that the 2000 presidential elections could trigger a
"bloody" settling of accounts and that chances among so-
called reformers were slim. "We have a very complex and
dangerous situation.... I don't see any clear, able candidate
among the reformers," Berezovskii told NTV. After
suggesting earlier this year that he might support former
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Berezovskii
mentioned only Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov, Communist
Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov, and Krasnoyarsk Krai
governor, reserve General Aleksandr Lebed as the leading
presidential candidates. With regard to Lebed, Berezovskii
said he is a "serious politician" capable of garnering
support from Russians who have suffered during the
country's transition. AW

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO CUT RAIL
TRANSPORTATION FEES

Deputy Prime Minister Boris
Nemtsov said on 8 June that the government will reduce by
25 percent fees for transporting coal, iron ore, oil, and fuel
oil by rail, Interfax reported. "This is a key step in the
government's industrial policy," Nemtsov said in
announcing that policy, which is aimed at supporting
Russia's industries. The railroads, which are expected to
lose 6 billion rubles (some $1 billion) when the fees take
effect on 15 June, have "volunteered to take the financial
blow," according to Nemtsov. Russia's gas monopoly,
Gazprom, and electricity monopoly, Unified Energy
Systems, are expected to introduce similar cuts in gas and
energy rates, Nemtsov said. AW

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO LAY OFF STATE
EMPLOYEES

The Russian government on 8 June announced
plans to lay off 231,000 employees this year, Interfax
reported. Government officials told Duma deputies that the
layoffs represent 3.6 percent of government employees
and will save 5.86 billion rubles ($953 million), according to
the agency. The Finance Ministry has said it plans to cut
62.4 billion rubles from this year's planned spending of
499.9 billion rubles. AW

AIDS CASES SOAR AMONG DRUG USERS

First Deputy
Health Minister Gennadii Onishchenko told a parliamentary
hearing on 8 June that Russia will be forced to spend its
entire health budget on people with the HIV virus in a few
years unless steps are taken now to stop the disease
spreading. A three-year federal program on educating
Russians about the risk of contracting AIDS expired in
1996, just when the number of AIDS cases began to
increase, Onishchenko explained. The number of people
registered as having the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, is
still relatively low at 8,313, he said. Onishchenko said the
number of AIDS cases has quadrupled since 1996, mainly
because of the rapid spread in intravenous drug-taking
among young people. AW

RUSSIAN BORDER GUARDS KILL TWO MORE CHINESE
POACHERS

Russian border guards from the Far Eastern
Border District shot and killed two Chinese citizens caught
poaching in Makarikha Bay, ITAR-TASS reported. The
incident occurred on 4 June but was made public only four
days later when commander of the district informed the
Chinese governor of Heilongjiang Province. When the
border guards sought to apprehend the poachers, one of
the Chinese attempted to attack a border guard with an ax.
This incident comes two weeks after Russian border guards
killed two Chinese fishermen and wounded five others
caught poaching in the Bering Sea (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
26 May 1998). BP

SIBERIAN MAYOR TO STAND TRIAL FOR
EMBEZZLEMENT, TAX FRAUD

Prosecutors have formally
charged the mayor of the Siberian city of Leninsk-
Kuznetskii, Gennadii Konyakhin, with tax fraud and
embezzlement, ITAR-TASS reported on 8 June. Konyakhin
has been in custody since his arrest in October 1997. The
charges against him stem from his activities as a
businessman before he became Leninsk-Kuznetsky mayor
in spring 1997. President Yeltsin had called for an
investigation into Konyakhin after "Izvestiya" accused him
of being linked to organized crime. AW

MISSING JOURNALIST FOUND DEAD IN RUSSIAN
REPUBLIC

Russian police say the body of a newspaper
editor has been found in Elista, capital of Russia's southern
republic of Kalmikiya, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 June.
Larisa Yudina, editor of "Sovetskaya Kalmikiya," was
reported missing two days earlier, after reportedly
meeting with unknown people who had offered her
important documents relating to an unknown topic. Police
said her body bore signs of a violent attack and was found
by a pond in the city. Yudina was also co-chairwoman of the
local branch of Yabloko. Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii
told RFE/RL's Moscow bureau on 9 June that he considers
Yudina's death to be a politically motivated act. Yavlinskii
said his party will call for a federal investigation into the
slaying. AW

TATARSTAN REACHES AGREEMENT WITH GAZPROM

Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev has reached a
compromise agreement with Gazprom on resuming gas
supplies to Tatarstan, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported on 9
June, citing Tatarstan Television. Gazprom threatened to
halt deliveries in retaliation for Tatarstan's failure to pay
its debts to the company (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June
1998) LF

SHAIMIEV RULES OUT UNILATERAL AMENDMENTS TO
CONSTITUTION

Commenting on the 5 June meeting in
Moscow between Russian President Yeltsin and the leaders
of Russia's republics, Shaimiev said he refuses to back
down from his insistence that any amendments to the Tatar
Constitution be accompanied by changes to the Russian
Constitution, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported. The Russian
State Duma has protested that the Tatar Constitution,
adopted in 1992, contravenes its Russian counterpart as it
does not explicitly state that Tatarstan is a constituent
part of the Russian Federation. Some Russian politicians
have also objected to Tatarstan's introduction of dual
citizenship. LF

INGUSH BUS PASSENGERS ABDUCTED IN NORTH
OSSETIA

Five ethnic Ingush are still being held hostage
after the two busses in which they were traveling were
intercepted in the North Ossetian village of Zilgi on 8 June,
ITAR-TASS reported the next day. Another 10 Ingush
passengers have been released. The Ingush were abducted
in retaliation for the kidnapping of seven Ossetians in Zilgi
on 7 June. LF

UN OBSERVERS INJURED IN ABKHAZIA...

Two members
of the UN observer force in western Georgia and an
interpreter were injured on 8 June when their armored
vehicle ran over an anti-tank mine in Abkhazia's Gali Raion,
Russian agencies reported. Six Abkhaz police officers were
killed in a similar incident in Gali on 2 June. LF

...AS ABKHAZ TALKS REACH IMPASSE

Russian Foreign
Ministry officials Lev Mironov and Gennadii Ilichev joined
Georgian and Abkhaz presidential representatives Vazha
Lortkipanidze and Anri Djergenia at their sixth day of talks
in Moscow on 8 June, Russian agencies reported. They
failed, however, to overcome differences between the two
sides. The talks are intended to prepare a draft peace
agreement, a protocol on the repatriation of ethnic
Georgians to Gali Raion, and another protocol on control
mechanisms. Those documents are intended to be signed at
a meeting between Georgian President Eduard
Shevardnadze and his Abkhaz counterpart, Vladislav
Ardzinba. Shevardnadze said on 8 June that the Abkhaz
proposals on repatriation are unacceptable as they
stipulate no time frame, according to Interfax. Abkhazia
has rejected Tbilisi's proposal that the Russian
peacekeeping contingent currently deployed in Abkhazia
under the CIS's aegis be augmented by a Ukrainian force.
Abkhazia also demands that Tbilisi and Sukhumi jointly
petition Moscow to lift the economic embargo on Abkhazia.
LF

TALKS ON SOUTH OSSETIA POSTPONED

The meeting
scheduled for 9 June between Georgian President
Shevardnadze and his South Ossetian counterpart, Lyudvig
Chibirov, has been postponed "for a couple of weeks."
Caucasus Press reported on 9 June quoting Irakli
Machavariani, who heads the Georgian delegation to the
Georgian-South Ossetian talks. Machavariani said the
postponement was necessitated by Shevardnadze's need to
concentrate on the Abkhaz situation. LF

ARMENIAN JOURNALIST FACES LIBEL CASE

Armenian
parliamentary speaker Khosrov Harutiunian has opened
libel proceedings against Haik Babukhanian, editor of the
Union of Constitutional Rights newspaper "Iravunk,"
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 8 June. Speaking on
national television on 2 June, Babukhanian said that the
current parliament is "95 percent criminal" and was elected
in 1995 by "illegal" means. Those charges were
subsequently reprinted in the 5 June issue of "Iravunk."
Babukhanian told journalists after being summoned to the
Prosecutor-General's Office on 8 June that he will summon
in his defense members of the former opposition electoral
commission and their proxies who were "beaten up and
intimidated" during the1995 elections. Union of
Constitutional Rights chairman Hrant Khachatrian, who
endorsed Robert Kocharian's candidacy after receiving
only 0.21 percent of the vote during the first round of the
March presidential elections, says his party backs
Babukhanian. Khachatrian condemned Harutiunian's decision
to open libel proceedings as "outrageous." LF

KARABAKH GOVERNMENT CRISIS CONTINUES

Arkadii
Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno-
Karabakh Republic, announced on 8 June that he has
accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Leonard
Petrosian, an RFE/RL correspondent in Stepanakert
reported. Ghukasian did not say whether he will assume the
duties of prime minister himself, as he hinted last week
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June 1998.) Speaking at a news
conference in Stepanakert on 5 June, Nagorno-Karabakh
Defense Minister Samvel Babayan said he would not accept
the post of prime minister if it were offered him. At the
same time, he said he will not remain indifferent to the
composition of the new cabinet, warning that he is
prepared to resign unless "young, experienced, and skillful
people" are included in the new government. Babayan also
said his brother Karen has resigned as interior minister to
put an end to what he termed "unnecessary gossip." LF

KARABAKH PRISONER SWAP FAILS

An exchange of
prisoners of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan planned
for last month failed to take place, Noyan Tapan reported
on 8 June. Azerbaijan proposed exchanging Armenian
civilians for Azerbaijani POWs, but Armenia and Nagorno-
Karabakh rejected that proposal. LF

AZERBAIJANIS PROTEST IRANIAN POLICE ACTION

Members of the Movement for the National Independence
of South Azerbaijan have lodged a protest with the Iranian
Embassy in Baku against the detention by Iranian security
forces of some 60 ethnic Azeris in Tabriz on 3 June, Turan
reported on 8 June. Thousands of Iranian Azerbaijanis
participated in a rally in Tabriz to protest the 29 May
adoption by the French National Assembly of a resolution
recognizing the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey. LF

ANOTHER DEATH LINKED TO ISSYK-KUL SPILL?

Doctors
say that, according to preliminary finding, the death of a
71-year-old man from the Issyk-Kul area on 6 June was
from sodium cyanide poisoning following the spill last
month, RFE/RL correspondents reported. An autopsy is
currently being performed in Bishkek. Meanwhile, Interfax
reported on 9 June that 40 people assisting in the clean-up
of the area have been taken ill and brought back to the
capital, for treatment. Meanwhile, the department head of
the Kumtor gold mining venture, which is being held
responsible for the spill, told RFE/RL correspondents on 8
June that Kumtor president Gerhardt Glattis has resigned
and will be replaced by one of his predecessors, Len
Homeniuk. BP

KAZAKH PLANE WITH RADIOACTIVE CARGO ALLOWED
TO LEAVE UKRAINE

Ukrainian customs authorities have
given permission to a Kazakh airliner with radioactive
material aboard to continue its journey after they found all
documents to be in order, Radio Rossiya reported on 8
June. The plane was grounded at the Rovno airport, outside
Kyiv, when officials found unusually high levels of radiation
from metal barrels aboard the plane. RFE/RL
correspondents quoted officials in Kazakhstan as saying
the radioactive material comes from Africa and the U.S. and
is not dangerous. They added that it is intended for use at
the Oskemen Metallurgical Plant as "raw material." BP

BELARUS TRIES TO LOCK U.S. AMBASSADOR OUT OF
RESIDENCE...

Belarusian authorities have given an order to
weld shut a gate to the residence of U.S. Ambassador to
Belarus Daniel Speckhard at the Drazdy compound outside
Minsk. Workers preparing to carry out that order retreated
when Speckhard arrived with journalists at his residence on
8 June, RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reported. The move
follows a warning in April that diplomats from 22 countries
will have to leave Drazdy by 10 June owing to planned
repairs there. Speaking at a news conference in Minsk on 8
June, Speckhard said Belarus has breached the Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations by violating the
ambassador's residence, which is considered foreign
territory, like the embassy itself. "If the government
wants to lock us out, we will have to leave the country,"
Speckhard commented to Reuters. He added that the action
is without precedence since the Cold War. Speckhard has
appealed to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to rescind
the eviction order. JM

...WHILE STATE DEPARTMENT THREATENS DIPLOMATIC
RETALIATION

U.S. State Department spokesman James
Rubin says the U.S. government has urged Belarus "to halt
this self-destructive action" of evicting foreign
ambassadors of their residences at Drazdy, Reuters
reported. "If the government in Belarus makes it
impossible for our ambassador to carry out his
responsibilities, we will be forced to take retaliatory
action," he added. "We certainly would have options of our
own in the welding area here in Washington," UPI cited
Rubin as saying. Meanwhile, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry
said in a statement read on state television on 8 June that
"all embassies are being offered new land and other
properties." It added that President Alyaksandr
Lukashenka and Prime Minister Syarhey Linh, who also have
their official residences at Drazdy, have set an "example"
by vacating those buildings for repairs. JM

UKRAINIAN MINERS' STRIKE ENTERS SECOND MONTH

According to the Ukrainian Miners Independent Trade
Union, strikes at 43 mines throughout the country entered
their second month on 8 June, Ukrainian Television
reported. Miners marching to Kyiv from Dnipropetrovsk
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 May 1998) are now 80
kilometers from the capital, while another group continue
to picket the oblast administration building in
Dnipropetrovsk (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 and 21 May
1998). Meanwhile, miners picketed the National Bank
building in Kyiv on 8 June to demand that the government
implement a parliamentary resolution allocating funds for
the purchase of coal. Under pressure from the striking
miners, the government has announced it will reduce coal
imports by 80 percent, ITAR-TASS reported. JM

PASSENGERS WANT $2 MILLION IN COMPENSATION
FOR ABORTIVE SEA TRIP

The Ukrainian cruiser "Taras
Shevchenko," owned by the Odessa-based Black Sea
Shipping Company, is returning home with more than 500
passengers aboard after a canceled Mediterranean cruise,
Ukrainian Television reported on 8 June. The passengers
had strongly protested the previous day after realizing
that the ship had changed its route and was returning from
Piraeus to the Black Sea. Greek authorities had tried to
impound the vessel because of the Black Sea Shipping
Company's debts, which total $125 million. The passengers,
who paid $1,500 -$7,000 for the trip, are to file suit against
the company to obtain "moral and material compensation"
amounting to $2 million. JM

ESTONIA'S RURAL BANK OPTS FOR LIQUIDATION

Estonia's sixth largest bank has opted for voluntary
liquidation, ETA reported on 8 June. The Rural Bank, which
last year registered significant losses owing to
unsuccessful stock market ventures, has suspended
deposits worth some 842 million kroons ($58.9 million). Of
that sum, 260 million kroons belong to private individuals
and 500 million kroons to the government. In an address on
public radio, Prime Minister Mart Siimann said the crisis is
a "serious matter" but does not reflect the state of
Estonian banking in general since the market share of the
Rural Bank was "rather small." In response to the bank's
liquidation, the Tallinn Stock Exchange fell 7.53 percent on
8 June. JC

LATVIAN PRESIDENT WANTS EXTRAORDINARY
PARLIAMENT SESSION

Guntis Ulmanis has urged Prime
Minister Guntars Krasts to call an extraordinary session of
the parliament to adopt amendments to the citizenship law
in the third and final reading, BNS reported on 8 June.
Ulmanis was speaking following a meeting with the
parliamentary group of Latvia's Way. The president said
that Krasts should call the meeting because it was his
cabinet that had proposed the amendments, whereby
citizenship would be granted to all children born to non-
Latvians after 21 August 1998 should their parents request
it. If the premier fails to call an extraordinary session, the
president said he will do so to ensure the amendments are
passed at least by the end of this month. JC

UNCERTAINTY REMAINS OVER NUMBER OF POLISH
PROVINCES

Despite the 5 June vote in favor of an
administrative reform bill providing for 12 new provinces
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 June 1998), uncertainty remains
over how many provinces will be set up in the country. The
ruling coalition has announced that it will seek the support
of the upper house to increase the number of provinces to
15. On 9 June, "Gazeta Wyborcza" reported that both the
opposition Democratic Left Alliance and President
Aleksander Kwasniewski are in favor of 17 provinces.
Presidential aide Marek Siwiec told the newspaper that the
president will veto the bill if it provides for only 15
provinces. The issue of administrative reform, which
prompted protests by some provincial communities, is
likely to dominate the local elections scheduled for this
fall. JM

SLOVAKIA ACTIVATES MOCHOVCE REACTOR

Slovakia
on 8 June activated a reactor at the controversial
Mochovce nuclear plant, Reuters reported. Slovak Foreign
Ministry spokesman Milan Tokar told the agency that
Slovakia has the right to determine its energy policy
without foreign interference and that "no one can deny us
our right to guarantee our energy." A spokesman for the
plant said all safety and technical requirements for
activating the reactor have been met. Austrian Chancellor
Viktor Klima said the Slovak decision was "unfriendly and
irresponsible" and that he is considering withdrawing
Austria's ambassador to Bratislava in protest. MS

SUSPECTS OF RECENT BOMBINGS ARRESTED IN
HUNGARY

One German, one Israeli, and two Russian
citizens suspected of involvement in a series of recent
bomb attacks in Hungary have been arrested, National
Police commander Laszlo Forgacs announced on 8 June. The
four persons were detained after police raided three
houses in Budapest and discovered a laboratory for
producing explosives. Police also seized 10 kilograms of
explosive materials and weapons as well as 1 ton of paper
suitable for forging bank notes. Since 1991, there have
been 111 bombings in Hungary, most of which are thought
to have been perpetrated by rival domestic and foreign
gangs. MSZ

EU, U.S. FREEZE ASSETS, BAN INVESTMENTS IN
SERBIA

In separate moves, the EU and the U.S. government
have frozen all Yugoslav assets in their countries and
slapped a ban on investment in Serbia, Reuters reported.
Meeting in Luxembourg, the EU foreign ministers decried
the "ethnic cleansing" under way in Kosova and called on
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to allow
humanitarian organizations and foreign observers to
western Kosova, where military operations are taking
place. The ministers also said they have not ruled out the
option of putting into effect Chapter 7 of the UN Charter,
which authorizes foreign military intervention in order to
keep peace. The U.S. State Department said it is working
with Britain on a UN Security Council Resolution that would
allow "all necessary measures" to stop the violence in
Kosova. The official Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, called
the new sanctions against Serbia "politically motivated"
and "incomprehensible." PB

STRONG WORDS FROM BLAIR, CHIRAC, COHEN

British
Prime Minister Tony Blair said on 8 June in Copenhagen that
all options are being considered to stop the "unacceptable
violence and brutality" in Kosova, AFP reported. French
President Jacques Chirac said in Washington the same day
that "we cannot accept the ethnic cleansing" and that he
hopes the Contact Group (consisting of Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Russia, and the U.S) will "decide to be very
firm to Serbs and to President Milosevic." He added that
such an approach could include military action, which, he
said, would need UN authorization and Russian approval. U.S.
Defense Secretary William Cohen said on 8 June that U.S.
and European forces may be deployed to prevent the
spread of violence in Kosova. U.S. National Security Adviser
Sandy Berger, however, said unilateral U.S. military
intervention in the crisis is not being discussed at this
time. Cohen will discuss the situation in Kosova on 11 June
at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. The
Contact Group meets the next day in Paris. PB

ENVOY URGES TALKS TO RESUME BETWEEN BELGRADE,
KOSOVAR ALBANIANS

U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said it
is imperative that Yugoslav officials and Kosova Albanian
leaders renew talks, Reuters reported. Hill, who toured an
area of heavy fighting near the Albanian border with
Kosovar Albanian official Fehmi Agani, said it is time to
"get a negotiating process started." Kosovar officials
failed to attend talks scheduled for 5 June in Prishtina
because of the ongoing Serbian offensive in western
Kosova. The Kosovar side said it will not resume talks until
Serbian paramilitary forces withdraw from Kosova. PB

DIPLOMATS TOUR DESTROYED TOWNS

Escorted by
Yugoslav officials, some 60 foreign diplomats on 8 June
were given a tour of several locations in western Kosova
that had been sealed off because of fierce fighting, Reuters
reported. The diplomats, who were not allowed to be
accompanied by journalists, said most of the towns were
deserted and many of the buildings reduced to rubble or
burned down. Police also showed the diplomats confiscated
weapons. Dutch ambassador Jan Sizoo said the area is a
"battlefield" and that Yugoslav officials accompanying the
diplomats said the "terrorists" started the fighting. PB

REFUGEE INFLUX SLOWS DOWN, SPREADS OUT

International relief agencies reported on 8 June that the
flow of ethnic Albanian refugees fleeing from Kosova to
Albania had stabilized, Reuters reported. A UN High
Commissioner for Refugees official said some 10,000
refugees arrived in northern Albania over the past 10 days.
Albanian officials said the total is closer to 15,000. While
most were receiving care in the Tropoje region, some 600
people had fled to the port city of Durres, the Albanian
news agency ATA reported. Other reports said refugees
are making plans to join relatives in other European
countries. Fighting is reported to be continuing near the
Albanian border. The pro-Serbian Media Center in Prishtina,
said ethnic Albanians had attacked two Serbian villages in
the Drenica region. It also reported that one Serbian
policeman was killed near the border. PB

ISTANBUL CONFERENCE DISCUSSES KOSOVA

Referring
to Kosova, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said at a
Balkan conference in Istanbul on 8 June that a tragedy
similar to Bosnia cannot be allowed to be repeated, the
"Turkish Daily News" reported. Albanian Foreign Minister
Paskal Milo said in his speech to the delegates that
although there will be no mention of Kosova in the
declaration issued at the end of the two-day conference,
Albania must express its concern over the "killing of
innocent civilians, the destruction of villages and towns,
and the increasing flow of refugees." Yugoslav Foreign
Minister Zivadin Jovanovic, who has insisted that no
mention of Kosova be included in the declaration, did not
mention the troubled Serbian region in his address. UN
Undersecretary-General Vladimir Petrovski, an observer
at the conference, urged the group to discuss the Kosova
crisis. PB

ATTACK ON NORTHERN ALBANIAN ARMS DEPOT

Unidentified gunmen attacked an arms depot in the
northern Albanian district of Mirdita on 8 June, "Koha Jone"
reported. Guards exchanged fire with the attackers until
the gunmen withdrew. Nobody was injured. The previous
day, Prime Minister Fatos Nano told the National Security
Council in Tirana that the secret service has warned him
that some Kosovar refugees may try to attack arms depots
to obtain weapons. Nano claimed that some federal
Yugoslav agents provocateur were among the refugees, but
he did not elaborate. The Defense Ministry, meanwhile, has
increased security around depots. FS

DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ALBANIA HAS NATO
SUPPORT

Albanian Defense Minister Luan Hajdaraga told
parliament on 8 June that the army is ready and able to
defend Albania's borders and that it expects NATO support
in the event of a Yugoslav attack, "Gazeta Shqiptare"
reported. Hajdaraga was responding to a question by
opposition legislator Azem Hajdari, who claimed there are
"fewer Albanian soldiers at the border than there are
deputies during a parliamentary session." Hajdaraga noted
that NATO experts recently surveyed the northern
Albanian border area (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 June 1998)
and are planning to hold joint military exercises there in
August. FS

BOSNIAN SERB PARTIES TO UNITE FOR ELECTIONS

Three reformist Bosnia Serb political parties announced on
8 June that they will join forces for elections in September.
The Serb National Alliance, the Socialist Party, and the
Independent Social Democrats said they will nominate a
joint list of candidates for the posts of the Republika
Srpska presidency and two posts reserved for Serbs in
Bosnia's joint presidency and government. The move is
aimed at replacing two Bosnian Serb hard-liners: Momcilo
Krajisnik, the Serbian representative on the joint
presidency, and Boro Bosic, co-chairman in Bosnia's joint
government. The parties announced that they will run
independently in the parliamentary elections. PB

BOSNIA SIGNS DECLARATION WITH EU

Bosnian Foreign
Minister Jadranko Prlic said in Luxembourg on 8 June that
his country is determined to join the "European family of
nations," dpa reported. Prlic made his comments after
meeting with EU foreign ministers and signing a declaration
on relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina and the EU.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Bosnia could
expect continued support from the EU "if you help
yourselves" and "build a peaceful, democratic and open
nation." The EU has donated some $2.2 billion to Bosnia. PB

BOSNIAN CROAT INFORMS TUDJMAN OF PLAN TO SET
UP SPLINTER PARTY

Kresimir Zubak said in an open
letter to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on 8 June that
he will continue with the formation of a new Bosnian Croat
political party, Croatian Radio reported. Zubak, the Croat representative on the joint Bosnian presidency, said he is
tired of the hard-liners in the ruling Croatian Democratic
Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ-BH), who, he said, are
accumulating power in the Bosnian Croat stronghold in
southwestern Bosnia, to the detriment of Sarajevo. Zubak
said he has concluded that "the differences within the
political leadership of the party are unbridgeable."
Tudjman has sought to keep the HDZ-BH intact through the
September elections in Bosnia and recently met with Zubak
in Zagreb (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 June 1998). PB

ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVE PLANS TO
RESTRUCTURE ELECTRICITY MONOPOLY

The
government on 8 June approved a draft law for
restructuring the RENEL electricity state monopoly utility.
Under that bill, the monopoly would be divided into three
companies: two would compete for customers, while the
third would remain under state control and oversee nuclear
energy production. The draft still has to be approved by
the parliament. No layoffs are envisaged by the plan, which
would be implemented over two years; the unions,
nonetheless, have protested the bill. Also on 8 June, some
20,000 miners in several towns protested the
government's program to restructure the mining industry.
Almost 10,000 miners have been laid off since last
September. MS

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK

Emil
Constantinescu, addressing the UN General Assembly on 8
June, said the new democracies in Eastern Europe can and
must play a significant role in combating organized crime
and drug trafficking. On 7 June, Constantinescu met with
the Romanian emigre community in New York, which
protested the delay in returning confiscated properties.
Constantinescu also announced that Emil Hurezeanu, a
former director of RFE/RL's Romanian Service, is to be
appointed presidential spokesman. MS

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR 'RADICAL REFORM'
OF ARMY

In his weekly address to the nation on 8 June,
Petru Lucinschi called for a "radical reform" of Moldova's
armed forces, BASA-press and Infotag reported. He said
the reform must improve both the country's "fighting
capability" and military technology. Lucinschi also called
for an end to the "interminable debates" on whether the
country needs an army or a national guard. He said that
Moldova is "at a crossroads where the interests of several
states intersect" and has "paramilitary structures that are
not controlled by the government...and huge arsenals of
Russian troops" stationed in the country. He argued that in
those circumstances, "the army is an instrument for
ensuring the country's security, independence, and
territorial integrity." MS

GAZPROM TO CUT MOLDOVAN SUPPLIES

Gazprom on 8
June told the Moldovan government that it will cut gas
deliveries by 50 percent as of 15 June, RFE/RL's Chisinau
reported. The Russian concern said "normal deliveries" will
resume only when Moldova clears its entire debt to the
company. It added that Chisinau has paid for only 51
percent of deliveries so far this year and has thus broken
the March agreement on clearing the debt. On 31 May,
Moldova's total debt to Gazprom was $590 million, of which
$388 million is owed by the Tiraspol separatists. MS

BULGARIA FREEZES SERBIAN ASSETS

The government
on 8 June announced it is freezing Serbian and federal
Yugoslav funds in local banks, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
The decision followed that of the EU earlier the same day
to freeze assets held abroad by the two governments. The
ban will not apply to funds held by Yugoslav companies and
individuals in Bulgarian banks. It also excludes accounts of
the Yugoslav embassy in Sofia. MS

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WEARING A BEARD IN CENTRAL
ASIA

by Salimjon Aioubov

It may seem absurd, but wearing a beard has acquired
more importance politically in some Central Asian
countries than any reforms, parties, movements, cease-
fires, or agreements.

While Afghanistan's Taleban measure beards and
punish the wearer if the beard is shorter than required, in
neighboring Uzbekistan people are persecuted if they have
bushy or long beards.

Before the civil war in Tajikistan, a beard was a
demonstration of political support for the Islamic
opposition. However, during the unrest, which broke out
after 1992, it became a recognized attribute of army
generals and opposition fighters.

In the view of many bureaucrats, having a beard was
the same as having links to armed groups. It was
unimportant whether those groups are governmental or
belonged to the Islamic opposition. But today, the hidden
meaning of the beard has disappeared because of acute
shortages of money, water, soap, and safety razors.

Wearing a beard was a political thing in Soviet times,
too. Communists claimed that men with beards were
dissidents. In 1975, when poet and university teacher Foteh
Abdullo grew a beard, the authorities--from the rector of
the university to the ideology secretary of the Tajik
Communist Party's Central Committee--invited him
several times for the toughest reprimands. Many people
followed that development closely and speculated about
the longevity of Abdullo's beard.

Abdullo's reply to the ideology secretary became a
folk legend. Abdullo told the secretary that he was a
passionate follower of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and
Comrade Fidel Castro. The Communist authorities could not
continue their campaign against Abdullo's beard because
they feared showing a lack of respect for the "people's
love" for those three communist leaders.

"In the past, only geologists and artists were allowed
to grow a beard," said old men. Indeed, during the Soviet
era, a beard was associated with Western hippies, U.S.
surrogate radio broadcasts, and Soviet dissidents. Uzbek
President Islam Karimov's predecessor, former communist
boss Sharaf Rashidov, associated the occasional growing of
a beard among Uzbekistan students with the pernicious
influence of Western culture. However, Karimov's opinion is
not very far from this viewpoint, though it emphasizes an
undesirable Islamic influence. "If you have noticed.
Wahhabis have a characteristic feature--they have beards,
untidy beards.... There is perhaps a certain sense in it."

A Kyrgyz newspaper echoed Karimov's statement:
"The basic sign according to which the Uzbek special
services distinguish Wahabbis from other citizens has
become a beard. A [beard] wearer can at any moment be
stopped and subjected to a humiliating search and even
arrest."

Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov does not
emphasize a beard as a political sign because many of his
army generals sport beards. But in 1992, during the short
reign of the National Reconciliation Government, every
television broadcast featured someone with a beard. What
is more, the inhabitants of the capital city, Dushanbe, have
never seen such a large number and variety of beards.

When power changed hands in Dushanbe in December
1992, a large number of people immediately shaved off
their beards, except those who thought beards were not a
political statement. But they were wrong. Armed
supporters of the government often caught those wearing
beards and pulled out each hair.

Now wearing a beard in Tajikistan generally has only
one meaning: people have neither the time nor opportunity
to shave. But it will be a long and difficult road for those in
the neighboring countries before they can wear a beard
that similarly has an apolitical meaning.
The author works for RFE/RL's Tajik Service.